Lake Stevens Runner Knocked to the Ground In Marathon Makes SI Cover

The indelible image has now raced round the world. It is the picture that summarizes the panicked pandemonium, the carnage and horror of Monday’s Boston Marathon, while depicting the defiant, heroic resilience of the runners and spectators.

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The Boston Globe photo, which will no doubt achieve iconic status, is of Bill Iffrig, a 78-year-old Lake Stevens man who was knocked to the ground by one of the bombs, It will be the cover shot for Sports Illustrated.

In an interview with The Herald of Everett, Iffig said he heard a noise and found himself on the ground.“It was only 5 feet away from me,” he recounted. “It was really loud.” Helped to his feet by a race official, with only a scrape on his knee, Iffrig, a veteran marathoner, walked across the finish line and then another half-mile to his hotel.

The runner’s son, Mark Iffrig, of Seattle, told The Associated Press he was tracking his father’s race progress online and didn’t know what had mayhem was unfolding until he went on Facebook to post about his dad finishing the race. He turned on the TV and called his dad.

“It’s horrible. He said it was quite a concussive blast. He was a little dazed. Someone helped him up,” said Mark Iffrig. “He was only about 10 feet from the finish line.”